Donbass residents will always be second-grade citizens in Ukraine

Donetsk residents will not have equal rights with the Ukrainians if the Donbass returns to the Ukraine. Those who don’t like that fact can expect to find themselves “in the vast plains of Siberia” said the former Prime Minister of Ukraine , Yuriy Yekhanurov.

“This territory is sick and we must understand this. We must create all economic conditions to capture it – I mean, for it to return to the Ukraine.

There can be no question of voting for their own deputies in the parliament. There should be a special regime of 5-10 years where the Donbass will not be able vote for the national parliament, only their regional parliament.” – he said.

Yekhanurov suggested that those in Donbass who don’t like such an arrangement should feel free to leave.

“We can not give them the right to be the same if they do not understand what the state of Ukraine is. Well, then, for those who wish, I think that the Far East, Siberia, is immense. A lot of hectares of land, which Putin offers to all. Off you go!”

Inessa S is an Editor, Journalist and Translator at FRN. She was educated in the field of Political Science and has previous marketing and communications strategy experience for enterprises and corporations. She runs a popular YouTube channel for translations of key Russian Foreign Policy figures and appears regularly on other alternative media channels. If you like her work, you can support her Patreon here.